Arsenal new boy Alexandre Lacazette scored the Premier League’s first goal of the new season

This has been an exceptionally frustrating issue this summer, with a number of players linked with moves between top-flight clubs at the start of the new season, including Southampton’s Virgil van Dijk, Swansea’s Gylfi Sigurdsson and Everton’s Ross Barkley.

Southamtpon reported Liverpool’s approach for Virgil Van Dijk to the Premier League

If Prem clubs do vote for changes to the transfer window, then this could put an end to many of those wonderful transfer sagas we’ve become accustomed to every year, which typically drag out until the early stages of the new season.

However, the proposed changes could potentially put English clubs at a disadvantage compared to their European rivals, as clubs across Europe will remain active in the transfer market for up to three weeks after the Premier League window closes.

So, transfer sagas such as Barcelona’s pursuit of Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho would be unaffected, for example.

According to research from betting company Bwin, seven of the 10 biggest transfers in the last five seasons have been completed after the opening day of the season.

Gareth Bale to Real Madrid, Angel Di Maria and Anthony Martial to Manchester United, Kevin De Bruyne and Nicolas Otamendi to Man City, and Mesut Ozil and Shkodran Mustafi to Arsenal all happened after the opening day of the season, with a cool 24% of the league’s signings completed after 15 August.

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